What changes will the new Building Law bring?
For many years there has been talk of a new construction that will help to reduce costs and speed up and simplify the process of issuing building permits. In the long term, demand has far exceeded supply in the real estate market, and it has been clear to everyone for many years that the new law is the only way to stabilise the market situation.
After the law is approved by the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, there is nothing left to do but wait for the President's signature. The new law is expected to come into force in 2023. Let us find out together what lies ahead.
- One of the rather controversial changes is the transfer of construction authorities to the state level. We remind you that today they perform their duties at the level of each specific city district. According to many analysts, this will lead to increased government spendings. It is expected that the activities of the authorities will become more transparent.
- The state administration of building authorities will be composed of three instances. The first instance will be located in each municipality and will be oriented towards receiving applications. The second will be located in Prague and will be specialized in dispute resolution and appeals. It will also deal with the construction of strategic projects such as airports and motorways. The third instance is the highest and will be located in Ostrava.
- Integration of other authorities, such as the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency, with construction authorities. The fact is that their approval is often necessary for the issuance of a building permit, which often leads to overly long application hearings and slows down the process.
- Speeding up and digitizing the submission and approval of building permit applications. From 2023, a dedicated Builder's Portal will be launched, where all necessary documents can be uploaded and the progress of the procedure can also be monitored. The approval time will also be reduced to 30 days for simple projects, 60 days for others and 120 days for those requiring an environmental impact assessment.
The new construction law will enter into force soon. We believe that it will help to simplify and speed up the construction of new projects, which will stabilise the situation on the real estate market in the near future.
